Only four days before the January 15 deadline for war in the Middle East, most Harvard students seem more concerned with January 14, the day final exams begin.

In a series of interviews in dining halls and libraries yesterday, most students said that they were generally more preoccupied with school-work and academics than with the possibility of war against Iraq.

"At this point in time, the exams are more on my mind, but if you had asked me a week ago, I would have said Saudi Arabia," said Thomas W. Madsen '94, voicing a common sentiment of students now feeling the exam crunch.

"When we take study breaks, that's when we talk about it," said a Quincy House student of the Gulf crisis.

While some students said they were keeping up to date on the situation through television and newspaper, others said they felt secluded, out of touch and totally absorbed in their studies.

"Exams are more important," said Suzana Grego '94. "I have no notion of the outer world."

Many of those who said they were more concerned with exams said they felt that way because the crisis seemed so distant from their lives. One student, who asked not to be named, said he simply did not feel "threatened" by the situation because he did not know anyone in the Middle East.

Distance aside, one student said she simply chose the path of least resistance. "The exams are much more immediate and much easier to face," said Jennifer M. Medearis '94.

Still, some students--many of whom have friends or family now stationed in the Middle East--said that exams couldn't keep their minds away from the situation in the Middle East.

"It's more important now because the deadline is approaching. It makes the exams look trivial," said Hector R. Rocha '94, who has a brother stationed in Saudi Arabia. "It puts it in perspective. These things are stupid compared to that."

"He's my age. I'm at Harvard right now, and he's in Saudi Arabia. It's not fair," Renata J. Ferrari '94 said of a friend in the Middle East.

"A lot of people would say that they are more concerned with exams than Saudi Arabia, yet the fear of war itself is probably much greater than any one exam grade," said James M. Larowe '94.

Indeed, many students said they might start to worry a lot more if the government considers resurrecting a military draft.

"They will take students, if they have to, and I don't know if I am with the cause," said Nelson Boyce '92. "I would rather deal with hard times than die over gasoline."